Apparatus for breaking up frozen foods



Oct. 21, 1952 E. G. MAGNUS APPARATUS FOR BREAKING UP FROZEN FooDs 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed Sept. 17, 1949 INVENToR:

Oct. 21, 1952 E'G MAGNUS 2,614,597

APPARATUS FOR BREAKING UP FROZEN FOODS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Sept. 17, 1949 INVENTOR:

. a Z l gfm @@fzz@ Patented Oct. 21, 1952 .APPARATUS FOR BREAKING UI .FROZEN FOODS Y 'i Ebner G. Magnus, Chicago, vlIllfrass'ignor'to Thek W. J. Fitzpatrick Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois .Applicaties September 17, 1949, seriaiNdirauo isolani-1s. (o1. 14s-'122) y1 'I'hisinvention relates to riving machines 'and more Aparticularly to a machine for reducing relatively large masses of frozen food material for rapid thawing.

`It has been the practice to package vvarious frozen food materials such as eggs, cream, and the like in relatively large cylindrical containers and to'freeze and maintain them under'low temperatures for storage. When the materials are to be used, it is necessary to thaw them, and unless Athey are reduced to relatively 'small particles it may require twenty-#four hoursormore ata temperature in excess of 70 F. for complete thawing. In the case of materials which vspoil rapidly such as eggs, this ls very undesirable since the outer portions of the material may spoil before-.the inner portions yare thawed. It is Afurthermore very-difficult to reduce materials of thissort to particles of relatively small size for rapid thawing, andprevious jattempts'to cut lor chop 'suchimaterials have not met with much success.

It is oneof the objects of the present invention to provide a machine for reducing or riving masses of frozen food materials quickly -and effectively. y

: Another object is to provide -a riving machine l in which a'mass of frozen material isv confined for limited lateral movement and is alternately acted on at opposite sides to producefa tendency totilt. v

Another object -isto provide a riving machine inj-which the material is removed by `rrelatively small teeth axially and circumferentially spaced on oppositely rotating drums. Preferably, the teeth on-each drum arearranged in a V formation Vwith the teeth in opposite legs of the .YV staggered and with a .circumferential space left between the `base and apex of the V..4 This construction produces a progressive cutting or riving ofthe ymaterial and tends to tilt the material into the teeth to insure proper action thereof.

Still another object is to .providea riving machine in which a screenis arranged beneath the vrotors or drums through which the material must pass. According to one feature of the invention the edges of the screens are supported by a removable rod having grooves thereinto receive lthescreen edges andiwhich canbe removed for yeasy and completev cleaning.

The above and other objects and advantages material passes. Ilieftop ofthe housing half 23 of 'the invention will be more readily apparent whenread in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a riving machine embodying the mvention'wthlparts broken away andlin section; 2

2 Figurev2 is a partial plan view illustrating the driving mechanism for the drums;

Figure 3 .an endelevation .of the machine;

Figure r'iv is a.L partial transverse section.

Figure 5 is. .a plan view .of the drums illus;

trating the arrangemento'f the teeth; and

Figure 6 is aperspeetiveview of the removable screen supportingrod, f

The machine comprises abase l0 which may be supported on suitable legs `or the like and which carries. a driving motor Il acting'through a `gear reducer. Al2 -to drive a main driving pinion I3. The pinion I3meshes with `a large gear iii on .a rotor shaft l5 Awhich carries a cylindrical drum I6. A, gear I 1 Aon thev shaft .I5 meshes with a similar gear 4L8 on a 'shaft l9parallel to.`and spaced from v the rotor shaft l5. The shaftVv i9 carries a cylindrical `drum 2l parallel to `and spaced from thefdrum 1.6;, When the motor is operated, the drumsJB and 2l will berotatedin opposite directions such that their upper surfaces move toward each other. f

The shaftslli and I9 are mounted in bearings 22 supported `y 't,he frame and extend through a lower housing half 23'carried by the frame. The housing 23' is generally rectangular in plan and is open at' the r`bottcm and terminates in a discharge v'chute`2`4 through which the treated isclosed 'by anupper cover 25 which vfits over the'drumsfandfwhich carries at its central portion'ia'fcylindrlcalfeed chute 26 vextending upward withits'airis' in vertical alignment with the space between the drums.' The feed 'chute is of a size to receive rslidably a cylindrical mass of vvfrozen' material to be treatedl so that the mass isv heldagainst turning but'is permitted to 'slide downward freely rand may have a slight tilting movement. ["A vradial clearance vonv-the order 'of one-half inch between the frozen cylin-V dricalmass and the feed'chute for a mass from twelve to y.fifteen inches inl diameter has been found to be satisfactory. The feed chute, as shown, terminates Vat its edges lsubstantially in liner with thefaxes Vof Athedrum's I6 and 2| so that the solid'mass of material to be workedon is confined to the inner half of each drum top portion.

For reducing the mass, each of the drums carries a-seriesl-of teeth- 21 which are preferably arranged, as best seen in Figure 5. As shown in Figure 4, eachof ythe 'teeth has ya head portion 28 overlying the drum which may be hollow and formed at its forward edge lwith an arcuate cut out to leave a chisel vshaped cutting tooth projectingforwardly The heads .are ysupported on 3 reduced shanks 29 which extend through the shells of the drums and may be welded thereto drums are arranged in a V-shaped formation M with the teeth in opposite legs of the V circumferentially staggered. In addition, the length of the V is such that a circumferential space-*will be left between the base and apex of the V. When the drums are connected bythe driving gearing, they are turned, as shown'in Figure 5, so that the teeth thereon are out of register. It will be noted that the aXial spacing'between ad` jacent teeth is such that complete coverage of the frozen mass by the teeth will be obtained as the drums rotate.

With this construction when alfrozen cylindrical mass, as indicated at 3| in'iFigures 1 and 3, is fed through the chute 26 the'te'eth on each of the drums willprogressively act on it` rst on one side and then at the other. tending to produce a lateral tilting action. The tilting is limited by the chute but is sufficient to insure that each tooth will obtain a'full bite and tends to hold the material down against the teeth. When vthe circumferential 4space between the base and apex of av Vcomes opposite the material, the opposite drumftends to tilt the material into the space thereby insuring that the starting teeth will obtain a full bite. In this way the frozen material is rapidly reduced to relatively small particles so` thatitcan thaw cllickly before thereis any opportunity for spoiling.

According to one important feature of the invention, the space below the drums is closed by screens. As best seen in Figure 4, a pair of curved perforated screens or plates 32 are supported below the drums'in spacedrelationship thereto .and are rovided withopenings through which material removed from the mass can pass. In the event any large chunks of material are broken or torn from the mass, they will beheld on the screens and carried around until they have been reduced to therdesiredvsize.

The screens are supported by f arcuate tracks or shoulders 33 at the endsofthe casing which receive thecurved ends of thefscreens. For inserting the screens. ythe cover is removed, and they are slipped inwardly from-the sides of the casing 23 onto the shoulders 33.

The inner edges of the screens are supported by an elongated rod 34 formed with grooves in its sides into which the edges of the screens eX- tend. The rod 34 is slidahly inserted through openings in the ends of the'casin'g 23 aligned with and below the space between the drums. 'The rod may be held in place by a screw or similar fastening 35- as best seen in Figure 1.

When the rod and screens are in place the edges of the screens are securely held andsealed hv the grooves in the rod. When the machine is to be disassembled` for cleaning. the fasteningv 35 may be released and the rod pulled out in ord-er that free access may be had to the grooves for cleaning them. This'is important in treat'- ing foods. since any particles left in the grooves would rapidly decay' andthorough cleaning of the machine is essential. Y

The constructionv of the present invention has been found to reduce frozen materials rapidly and eectively so that they can thaw 'quickly Number Name Date 37,482 Amelang Jan 27, 1863 897,829 Harperl Sept. 1, 1908 1,355,021 Waller Oct. 5, 1920 1,433,042 Sedberry Oct'. 24, 1922 2,223,542 Bauer Dec. 3, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 516,101 Great Britain Dec. 21, 1939 4 without spoilage. For example, with a machine in which the teethv 21 are approximately onehalf inch long and of substantially equal width, it has been found that a thirty pound cylinder of frozen eggs can be reduced to small particles in about one minute. 'Similar results are obtained with otherv materials such as cream and the like.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail herein, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purposeto the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A riving machine comprising a pair of cylindrical drums rotatable on spaced parallel horizontal axes, means for driving the drums so that their top surfaces turn toward each other, a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced teeth projecting outward from each of the drums, the teeth being of substantially the same height as their width and being small relative to the drum, andan elongated vertical cylindrical feed chute projecting. above the drums and aligned with thespace between'them with its edges terminating.substantially in line with the axes of the drums and terminating at its bottom closely adjacent to the drums slidably to receive a solid body of material to be treated of substantially the same cross section Iand size as the chute, the chute holding the body of material against tilting and the body of material resting at its lower end on the cylindrical surfaces of the drums, and a screen underlying and spaced from the ydrums `through which the treated material must pass. Y

2. A riving machine comprising a housing open at its bottom for discharge of material, a pair of rotors in the housing rotatable on spaced horizontal axes, track means at opposite ends of the housing to support the ends of curved screens beneath the rotors, a pair of curved screens slidable from the sides of the housing to positions beneath the rotors, a rod insertable and removable through openings in the housing ends beneathl and registering with the space between the rotorsy and having grooves in its sides to receive and anchor the edges of the screens.

3. The construction of claim 2 in which the rotors are cylindrical and have axially and circumferentially spaced teeth projecting therefrom. v

4. The construction of claim l inwhich the teeth on each drum are arranged in a V-formation with the teeth in opposite legs of the V circumferentially staggered.

ELMER Gr. MAGNUS.

vREFERENCES CITED 7 UNITED, STATES PATENTS 

